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Bob Parker
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Bob Parker was a teacher of English country dance. He started folk dancing in elementary school when he was eight years old. In his teens, he joined the English Folk Dance and Song Society, where he discovered English ritual dance – men's Morris and Sword dances.
By age twenty, he was calling, emceeing, and teaching for the Society and representing England at festivals abroad, visiting many countries.
He has served on the National Executive Committee of the Society and was a member of the Artistic Development Committee. This committee is responsible for organizing training courses, national prestige festivals, and concerts.
Bob was also a visiting teacher to the Royal Ballet School where he gave the young dancers a knowledge and experience of their own traditional dances.
His keen interest in folk dance led him into full-time work in teacher training; he was a Senior Lecturer in Movement Studies at London College of Education.
Bob taught at Pinewoods Dance Week in 1973 and at the California University of the Pacific Folk Dance Camp (now Stockton Folk Dance Camp) in 1974.
Bob died on March 23, 2012.
Dances Bob taught include
Chelsea Reach,
Flamborough Sword Dance,
Haste to the Wedding,
Kate's Hornpipe,
Morpeth Rant,
The Bishop,
and
Walpole Cottage.